TASK THREE: What kind of media institution might distribute your media project and why?

-       My media thriller is full of isolation, suspense and intensity as it is a modern psychological thriller.

-       Out of the production companies which I have studied (Warner Bros., Warp Films and Vertigo Films) I found that Vertigo Films would be the most suitable institution to distribute my thriller.

-       Vertigo Films is an Independent British Film Company which was created in 2002. Vertigo creates many films within the “thriller” genre which have been very successful (such as Shrooms, Monsters, The Wake Wood etc.) all of which have the same elements as Immersed. Vertigo also creates many high-concept films with a very small budget (e.g Monsters and Street Dance). They are an independent company trying to become “main-stream”.

-       I believe Immersed would be appropriate to be distributed by Vertigo as it has been designed to appeal to a mass audience. The plot for Immersed is rather “safe” as it is rather un-original meaning that the basis of the plot has been seen before and audiences have proven to be drawn to this.

The Plot

A teenage girl a with big dream of swimming for her country in the 2012 Olympics is threatened by a fellow team mate who takes her hostage and her only hope is two Crime Scene Investigators saving her before time runs out.

There are two elements of this plot which are seen in previous Vertigo Films;

1)    In Street Dance a girl a teenage girl, Carly, and her friend who all have big dreams of becoming professional street-dancers. 

2)    In WAZ there are two investigators trying to find a serial killer. This film also involves an element of time pressure as “body’s” keep appearing and every moment lost is a life lost.

TASK TWO: How does your product represent particular social groups?

Throughout life we see particular social groups and stereotypes which all seems to begin at high-school/ secondary school.

We see this in such films as “Mean Girls” (produced by Paramount Pictures and directed by Mark Waters).

This idea that we must belong to a certain social group is prominent in society, especially in youthful years, as teenagers are trying to find their identity.

Two of the social groups listed in “Mean Gils” which relate to the character of the swimmer in my thriller sequence are;

-JV Jocks (a person who actively and competitively competes in sporting events)

-Varsity Jocks (a person who represents a university/college in a sports team)

However, the character of the swimmer in “Immersed” is a female obsessed with sports. This is therefore subverting the stereotype of the male obsessed with sports as the gender stereotype is reversed.

An American television drama series, Make It or Break It, focuses on the lives of teen gymnasts who strive to make it to the Olympic Games (Directed by Steve Miner and produces by ABC Family). This program is centered on females who aim to be in the Olympics. This is the same social group which is representing in my product.

People like Rebecca Adlington, the first British swimmer to win two Olympic gold medals since 1908, began swimming aged 4 and competing aged 10.

The social group, where such people as Rebecca Adlington belong is the social group which I am representing in my project. A group of girls who, from a young age, are committed, determined and obsessed with sports and hope to peruse it as a career.

As the main character in my sequence is a so obsessed/immersed in swimming she is distracted. She is therefore vulnerable.

This is also quite stereotypical, as the girl who is isolated, distracted and alone is shown to be vulnerable. We see many examples of this in adverts to warn teenagers to pay attention while crossing the road as they are usually listening to music on their IPod or texting on the phone. This stereotype of teenagers being distracted, unaware and vulnerable is also present in my product.

Below is video of this representation in tranpsot for london's advert for road safety where a girls dreams are "shattered" as she "dies before she lives" as she is unaware and distracted.